Astros catcher Jason Castro close to returning from DL

Jason Castro reported no setbacks after catching nine innings Friday on his rehab assignment with Class AAA Oklahoma City. Barring a setback in his recovery from his right knee injury, the Astros’ former first-round pick might be ready to come off the disabled list Monday against the Cubs.

“I think we’re just going to have to constantly monitor his movements behind the plate and how good that he’s able to move and block pitches and do all the catching things because there’s no doubts the position that he plays is a little rougher with the (knee) injury that he had,” manager Brad Mills said.

Catcher spot may be crowdedCatcher Carlos Corporan, who sports a .275 average, three home runs and nine RBIs, has excelled in 15 starts since his contract was purchased on July 15 from Class AAA Oklahoma City.

If nothing else, it won’t be an easy decision for the Astros to make a move after Jason Castro comes off the DL.

“Yeah, I thought they looked good and I thought they were kind of cool,” Mills said of the uniforms. “As soon as I walked in, two or three of the players asked me, ‘Let’s wear these tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Yeah, great, let’s do that.’

“We had to jump through some hoops because uniforms are kind of a big thing with the league office. We had to go through the league office and get the OK and so on and so forth.”